Paper-clip.



10.709,523. Patented sept. 23, |902. s. R. STBATTAN.

PAPER CLIP.' (Application mea Apr. 1`9, 1902.) (No Model.) A

lUnirrnn Patient SAMUEL R. STRATTAN, OF VASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

eneanmctir.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 709,523, dated September 23, 1902. Application filed April 19| 1902. Serial No. 103,675. (No model.)

To (all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL R. S'rnar'rnn, a citizen of the United States, residing at ilifashington, District of Columbia, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Paper-Clips; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the saine, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the 'figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to paper-clips and analogous devices.

rlhe object of my invention is to provide a structure havinga plurality of opposing' su rfaces of different widths and arranged to forni gripping-surfaces tending to not only prevent a withdrawal of the inserted papers accidentally, but which will also prevent a tendency of lateral movement thereof.`

A. further object to provide a device of this character in which the rear grippingsurface may be readily raised from contact by the user to permit of a ready withdrawal of the papers, thereby permitting of its use in connection with thin sheets, such as tissuesheets, without liability of damaging such sheets in withdrawing them. M

Other objects will be presented as the invention hereinafter described.

To these and other ends, the nature of which will be readily understood as the invention is hereinafter set forth, said invention con-4 sists in the improved construction and combination of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which similar reference characters indicate similar parts, and particularly pointed ont in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure l is a plan view of the blank preparatory to being folded. liig. 2 is a central longitudinal sectional view of the blank when folded. Fig. a similar View showing a batch of paperslocated therein. Fig. 4t is a bottoni plan view. Fig. 5 is aperspcctive view of the clip, and Fig. (j an end view looking toward the right in t.

5 designates a blank, preferably formed of a sheet or stripof resilient material, elongated, as shown in Fig. l. The blank is provided with two longitudinallyextending slits 6 6, formed iu any suitable manner, such as by sawing, the use of dies, doc., said slits ezt--` tending parallelwith each other and 'terminating at a short distance from the ends. At a point at one side of the center the portion between the slits is cut away, as at 7, thereby 'forming the blank with two tongues 8 and E), the latter designating the shorter tongue, said tongues extending in wai-diy from the opposite ends.

Before folding the blank the tongnos are preferably shaped to forni a turned-up end IU on the lip of the longer tongue and also a turned-up portion lOL on said tongue, after which the blank is folded at a suitable point close to the center into U shape, thereby forming a month ll. at the forward end of the clip. As the fold is not central, one of the lips of the month will extend forwardly beyond the other, (preferably the lower one,) the other lip having the turned-up portion l0, thereby permitting of a ready introdnction of the papers into the mouth, the projecting end of the straight lip forming a base or support for the edges of the papers to be inserted prior to their insertion in the clip, thus permitting such insertion by the use nl' but one hand.

As will be seen by referring` to Fig. l, the folding of the blau k provides a recess l, which extends forwardly from the fold, and the tongues extend rearwardly into said cess. As the surfaces of the tongues are opposed to each other within said recess, it will be seen that I have provided two independen'tlaterally-extendingopposingsurfacescou-- tacting when not in use and adapted to benl.' on the paper at spaced points longitudinally of the clip. These opposing or gripping sur-v faces, as shown, areof different widths, the forward surface extending entirely across the mouth of the clip, while the rear surface is of the width of the two tongues, the latter hoing less in width than the mouth and located at a point in rear of the latter, and as the` rear surface is formed by the contactingl tongues the position of such surface laterally is between parallel lines drawn rearwardly from the outer edges of the mouth, the exltension of the mouth ou each side of the can allel lines of the tongues being the width of the two portions of the blank connecting the two lips of the mouth. By this construction I provide gripping-surfaces which are equal in effect to gripping-surfaces which would be provided at the angles of a triangle with the apex toward the rear, thereby not only providing against accidental withdrawal of the papers, but in addition providing against a tendencyof the papers to move laterally, said triangularly-arranged gripping-surfaces coacting to prevent such movement. This is due to the fact that the extended surface provided by the mouth projects on opposite sides of the parallel surface formed by the opposing tongues, and thereby not only forms two extended gripping-surfaces, such as would be provided by the use of surfaces of equal width, butin addition presents the additional surface on each end of the mouth, which latter surfaces form a check, one against the other, to prevent the papers from being moved with the surface formed by the tongues as a pivot. In other words, it is the two additional surfaces provided at the ends of the mouth which form the principal check against such pivotal movement. In a structure Where this is not present entire dependence must be placed on the lateral length of the opposing surfaces, and as these surfaces are of equal length one must oppose the other against pivotal movement of the paper, and to prevent such pivotal movement such surfaces would have to be of considerable lateral length. It will therefore be understood that Where clips of narrow width are used (and these are the ones in greatest use) sufficient length of surfaces is not obtainable without complicating the structure.

As shown in the drawings, the rear end of the tongue 8 is preferably turned up, as at 10a. This is of advantage in connection with the fact that this tongue extends into an open recess. This advantage consists in the fact that at any time the tongue 8 can be readily raised from its contact with the papers, and thereby permit them to be easier withdrawn and without liability of the edges of the tongues catching in and tearing the paper, a result which is particularly liable when the clip is used in connection with tissue-paper.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is- 1. A blank for paper-clips comprising a strip of resilient material having longitudinally-extending parallel slits intermediate its ends, the material between the slits being divided laterally at right angles to the slits to provide two tongues extending inwardly from the opposite ends of the strip.

2. A blank for paper-clips comprising a strip of resilient material having longitudinally-extending parallel slits intermediate its ends, the material between the slits being divided laterally at right angles to the slits to provide two tongues extending inwardly from the opposite ends of the strip, said tongues being of unequal length.

3. A blank for paper-clips comprising a strip of resilient material having longitudinally-extending parallel slits intermediate its ends, a portion of the material between the slits being cut away to provide two tongues extending inwardly from the opposite ends of the strip, said tongues being of unequal length, the cut edges of the tongues extending at right angles to said slits.

4:. A paper-clip comprising a strip of resilient material folded to U shape and having a recess extending forwardly from the fold thereof; and an integral tongue formed on each end of said strip and extending rearwardly into said recess.

5. A paper-clip comprising a strip of resilient material folded to U shape and having a recess extending forwardly from the fold thereof; and opposing tongues extending rearwardly from the mouth of the clip into said recess.

6. A paper-clip comprising a strip of resilient material folded to U shape and having an open recess extending forwardly from the fold thereof; and opposing tongues extending rearwardly from the mouth of the clip into said recess, the upper tongue having its free end turned up to permit its being raised from the paper.

'7. A paper-clip comprising a strip of resilient material folded to U shape, and having laterally-extending opposing surfaces adapted to bear on the paper at spaced points longitudinally of the clip, said surfaces being of unequal width, an open recess being formed in rear of said surfaces extending from the fold of the clip.

8. A paper-clip comprising a strip of resilient material folded to U shape, and having independent laterallyextending opposing surfaces adapted to bear on the paper at spaced points longitudinally of the clip, the rear surface being of less width than the forward surface, an open recess being formed in rear of said surfaces extending from the fold of the clip.

9. A paper-clip comprising a strip of resilient material folded to U shape, the mouth thereof forming laterally-extending opposing surfaces, and independent opposing surfaces located in rear of said mouth, said rear surfaces being of less width than the mouth, au open recess being formed in rear of said surfaces extending from the fold of the clip.

lO. Apaper-clip comprisinga strip of resilient material folded to U shape, the mouth thereof forming laterally-extending opposing surfaces, and independent opposing surfaces parallel with and located in rear of the center of said mouth, said rear surfaces being of less width than said mouth, an open recess being formed in rear of lsaid surfaces extending from the fold of the clip.

l1. A paper-clip comprising a strip of resilient material folded to U shape, the mouth thereof forming laterally-extending opposing surfaces, and an independent tongue extend- IOO in;r rearwardly from each of the ends of said strip, said tongues being of less width than the strip, whereby independent opposing' su rfaces will be provided in rear of said mouth, an open recess being formed in rear of said surfaces extending from the fold of the olip.

12. A paper-clip comprisingr a strip ofresilient material folded to U shape, and having` a recess extci'idiner forwardly from the fold thereof, and tongues extending rearwardly from the ends of ille strip into said recess, said tonguesheing of unequal length.

i3. A paper-clip comprising a strip oli resilient material folded to U shape, and having;` a recess extendingr forwardly froin the l'old thereof, and an independent tongue formed integral with and extending;` rearwardly from each end of said strip, said tongues being of unequal length v and opposing each other to form, with the month, laterally-extending opposing surfaces adapted to bear on the paper at spaced pointe longitudinally of the clip.

ln testimony whereof l have affixed iny sig nature in presence of two witnesses.

SAMUEL 1t. STRATTAN.

Witnesses:

HORACE G. Sin'rz, JNO. T. STRATTAN. 

